i'm more a fan of the stage than the logo. At least the stage stands out as a bit different. Given the 3 stage invasions/'incidents' I just hope there's a piranha-filled moat between it and the audience.

There is a good middle ground. I liked the idea of trying something new last year. Not to say I thought it worked, but there's a happy medium. I think somebody needed to do it, to see where the limits were and RTP were clearly the broadcaster willing to try.

The interaction of lighting, IED and props is a fine balance, I thought Moldova and Germany probably did the best job last year of an IED-less year and Moldova especially made an asset out of having no screens. Italy in 2017 didn't exactly turn what had really worked at San Remo into a winner.... I thought the dancers were possibly the best thing about Israel and I am not a fan of that song.... '1944' wasn't overly reliant on the IED, it used conventional lighting quite extensively, no reason somebody else couldn't do something like that, use more conventional lighting to establish mood/tone and then elaborate with the IED....

The Swiss IED backdrops in 2017 were totally inappropriate. I didn't think much of the backdrops of FYR Macedonia either and there were too many 'floating heads' as well as too many backdrops for the sake of it. I would argue that Switzerland 2018 had a good gig-style feel to their performance (I liked the flare) and I'm not quite sure why that didn't go through because I felt quite optimistic for it.

He who does the most effective overall piece, and tells a story which isn't over-reliant on technology, may well win....